MIchael Zusman, right, speaks to his attorney Cory Hinton at the end of the day's testimony on July 14 at his trlal in Lake County Common Pleas Court. Zusman is charged with involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in heroin, three counts of tampering with evidence and possessing criminal tools.

But prosecuting attorney Laurence Giegerich said the Concord Township woman would likely still be alive if wasn’t for Michael Zusman’s actions.

Spisak, of Concord Township, died May 9, 2013, after Zusman allegedly injected her with heroin and then failed to call 911 after she lost consciousness at his parents’ Mentor home.

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Zusman, 25, went on trial July 14 in Lake County Common Pleas Court on charges of involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in heroin, three counts of tampering with evidence and possessing criminal tools.

“Heroin is hitting Lake County hard. But the answer isn’t a witch hunt to throw a person in jail for decades,” Hinton told the jury of seven men and five women. “It was an accident caused by risky behavior. The state is trying to pass the buck and blame someone, but there is no remedy at law.”

The first witness called to testify for the state was Spisak’s best friend, Laurina Giuliano of Mentor-on-the-Lake.

Giuliano said she was with Spisak at a friend’s party on May 8, 2013. She saw her friend take two prescribed Xanax, drink several beers and eat pizza over a seven-hour period.

Giuliano said she never witnessed Spisak take heroin and believed she was clean after going to rehab years before.

During the party, Giuliano testified she saw Spisak texting “Bike Mike” — Zusman’s nickname — and that he asked her friend if she wanted to get “dog food” and “puppy chow,” slang terms for heroin.

Giuliano, who said she herself did not take drugs, added she warned her friend not to get back into heroin.

The two women then left the party to go to Spisak’s house because Giuliano’s car was still there from earlier when they watched “The Brady Bunch” movie together.

“She left her house,” Giuliano said. “I went home. I had to work in the morning.”